Abridged Ties (Gilbert x OC)

Arvan Naiman

Soon after drawing conclusions from the peculiar storybook, Noelle had drifted to sleep, curled up on the blanketed couch peacefully. As he always did, Gilbert brushed her thick violet curls from her face. He gave her a light kiss on her forehead and pulled one of the extra pillows to the ground. But even the subtle action nudged the girl awake from her not yet deep slumber.

"Gilbert..." She said tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "Why are you on the floor?" She observed with a yawn.

"So that you can stay on the couch." He smiled nonchalantly.

The sleepy girl furrowed her eyebrows. "Isn't that uncomfortable?"

Gilbert shook his head. "It's carpet, so I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

Noelle frowned. "You really say some stupid things..." She commented.

"What?! That's rude to say." He seemed taken aback by her tired statement.

"You tell me not to worry about you, but that just makes me more worried. Either way, I'll never stop worrying about you because I care about you."

Gilbert chuckled. "You're silly." He ruffled her thick locks with a smile.

"I'm serious!" She pouted, sitting upright and crossing her arms over her chest. "Get off the floor, you're not an animal." She demanded.

Cautiously, he stood, now looming over the girl.

Noelle let her dominant facade fall, releasing a small smile and a sigh. "You know, I really don't mind if you sleep with me."

Gilbert's face reddened as he became frantic. "I... I... Noe -"

She threw one of the pillows at him, wearing the same bright blush. "Th-that's not what I meant!" She defended shyly. "Pervert." She grumbled, averting her violet gaze.

"You're the one that suggested it!" The young man defended with equal shyness.

"But I didn't mean that!" Noelle huffed. "I just meant like, you know, just sleeping."

"Right..." Gilbert trailed. With a nervous breath, he sat on the couch beside the embarrassed girl, trying to act as natural as possible.

To his surprise, she giggled. "We've slept together before." She mentioned.

After the considerable amount of time that it took for Gilbert to calm his nervousness, Noelle did finally get back to sleep comfortably and peacefully. When he saw that she was able to rest, the young man holding her was able to drift to sleep as well.

~+-+-+-+~

The next morning, the two walked to the Vessalius manor quietly, each wearing light blushes. They were nervous for the kind of interrogation they would face. But Gilbert's strong grip on Noelle's small hand assured her.

As soon as the young man lifted his fist to rap on the large wooden door of the mansion, the door swung from it's frame.

"Oh! Raven and Noelle! You two are rather late this morning..." A peculiarly joyful white-haired man stood in the doorway. The couple's cheeks became redder.

"Gil!" Oz called out from inside, seemingly occupied with something. "We need you!"

Gilbert sighed, mentally preparing himself for what his friends had in store. "You all are so needy." He complained in a low voice.

"Well, none of us are strong enough to get this tree up." The blonde pouted as Gilbert pulled off his large hat.

"Tree?" Noelle repeated as a question.

"Get out of the way!" Alice's loud voice echoed through the main hall. She stormed down the stairwell, carrying an old cardboard box with sparkling ribbons and shining bulbs spilling over the edges. She haphazardly dropped the box on the ground with an exaggerated huff.

Satisfied, Sharon placed her hands on her hips. "It's about time that we trimmed the tree! Christmas is only a few weeks away!"

"Yeah..." Oz continued to frown. "But no one here is strong enough to actually put up the tree." He crossed his arms over her chest. "We need you to do it."

"Fine." Gilbert sighed exhaustedly, rubbing his tousled curls. With quite a bit of effort, he pulled the remarkably large evergreen upright, fastening it inside of a stand to keep it there. He wiped the bead of sweat that dripped down his forehead and declared that he was 'done.'

With a cheer from a few of the people in the room and a bright smile from Noelle, everyone began to pull the colorful ornaments from Alice’s box and drape them over the large pine tree.

Within minutes, every decoration in the box had been wrapped or hung on the prickly branches, except for the most important one. Noelle pulled the diamond-esque star from the now empty box, holding it with a humble smile.

Seen as no one was tall enough to reach the top of the evergreen, even the tall Gilbert, the dark-haired man easily lifted the petite girl off of her feet, sitting her on his shoulder so she could place the star on the single pointed brash pointing straight to the chandelier fastened to the ceiling.

When he set Noelle back on the tiled floor, he draped his strong arms around her shoulders, resting his chin on her head and looking at the decorated Christmas tree happily.

But the other four were focused on Gilbert and Noelle, each wearing different conspicuous expressions.

Oz huffed and asked the question everyone else was thinking. "What's going on here?" He crossed his arms over his chest and wore a mischievous smile.

"Oh!" Break placed a hand over his lips dramatically. "It looks like our little Noelle and Gilbert are a thing." He observed.

Sharon placed her hands on her hips with satisfaction.  "It was bound to happen sooner or later." She sighed and smiled, her caramel-colored orbs questioning them intently.  "The true question is how it happened." She raised a thin eyebrow.

Noelle averted her violet gaze shyly as Gilbert's cheeks reddened expectedly.  "I... um... I -" He stuttered embarrassedly, interrupted by an irritable huff from Alice.

"If you love each other," The brunette spat.  "... then prove it."

Oz nodded, encouraging the two.  They looked at each other, sharing embarrassed faces before Noelle released a giggle.  She twisted in his strong arms, cupping his cheeks in her small hands and pulling her lips to his.

Break, Oz, and Sharon erupted into a choir of "ooh's" as Noelle let go of Gilbert.

"Oh, look.  Seaweed-head found love.  It's a Christmas miracle." Alice commented with a monotonous tone.

"Congratulations!" Sharon squealed excitedly.

Break lifted a finger to his lips questionably.  "Now, I guess the question is how far you two have gone..."